Veg Heaven!

The Good Life

Meet one of our new hens. Yesterday we went to collect and rehome some more ex-battery hens via the Battery Hen Welfare Trust. This bunch were in quite good form with a bit of strength and 'perkiness' about them despite the sorrowful state of their bodies. We first rehomed 10 battery hens 2 years ago and I'm pleased to report that some of those are still with us and have enjoyed a good quality life with considerably extended life expectancy.

Holiday Postcard

The freedom of holidays....lots of larking about and some time together here on the long long sands at Holkham with all those fabulous colourful beach huts

The Next Phase - Renovation of the Dairy

Welcome to your new holiday home..........needs a bit of work to get that roof sorted out but you can see the potential for the restoration of the stonework arch. We've been working on the design for the two holiday properties we're going to create out of the former dairy and these have been through the planning process so now the detailed drawings are underway before a building warrant application is submitted. We've used the same architect Thomas Robinson Architects (see links) because we like their ethos and design approach. The renovation will continue the low energy principles, using high quality materials and a sympathetic but contemporary design.
The design for this south elevation makes the most of the existing stone arch as the main entrance to the house and also brings some more light into the property with full height glazing both on and adjacent to the door. The stonework will be cleaned up, the slate roof completely replaced using the existing slate alongwith the slate we retrieved from the original farmhouse and there'll be a small area of larch cladding to tie in with materials on the adjoining holiday house and the main 'new' house. This is the East elevation - the stone building on the left is the one whose elevation and entrance door are shown above. The large doors on both holiday houses will open onto patios and terrific views across the fields towards the Campsies. So this is where I envisage guests may be sitting munching their cornflakes in the morning sun planning their day ahead!

totally fabulous weather, so much time outside, its such a great part of the world, bbqs, walks and mucking about....and the garden is coming together too!

Today we walked up the Dumpling. A short refreshing stroll with a terrific view of Loch Lomond from the top.

Lots of Lovely Compost

It didn't take long for the contents of our compost bins and the horse muck heap to be consumed by the raised beds and we were wondering where/how to get some more in order to grow veggies etc this year. Through Jane I discovered that Scottish Water can supply POD which is peat free compost/soil booster which has been created from composted green waste, 'sanitised' -whatever that means and is biologically active and environmentally friendly. Also it came with the recommendation of James, the owner of Damhead who grow organic veggies to supply throughout central and southern Scotland.
So, a couple of weeks ago, we had approx 19 tonnes delivered and dropped from the back of this very large lorry. Fabulous! The existing beds are now all filled and we'll have plenty to use in the next area where beds will be built (in due course!) and for topping up the areas for general planting of flowers, shrubs etc.
Today I finished planting the seedlings which have been grown in the house and the caravan, I also sewed some crops directly in the soil. The list of goodies in the ground is now as follows;
Potatoes - desiree, maris piper, ratte and pentland javelin
Broad beans - aquadulce claudia and sutton (the latter being good for windy sites - which this is)
Peas - kelvedon wonder
Courgette - all green bush
Dwarf beans - sonesta (a yellow variety)
Spinach - renegade and bordeaux
Baby carrots - ideal
Spring Onion - white lisbon
Radish - rougette
Chard - bright lights
Salads - a california leaf mix; and a few bits from 'leftover' packets

Busy day and lots of fresh outdoor air

First day of the school holiday weekend for us today. Glorious sunshine at the start, the children were up early but delayed breakfast to play outside, collect the eggs, pick rhubarb, chalk on the paving, hit some tennis balls, do a bit of skateboarding. By 9am they were keen to have brekky and move onto other activities. So this morning I made a batch of rhubarb chutney which is looking very dark and lucious. The children weren't keen on the overriding vinegar smell while cooking took place but were intrigued by the bubbling steaming hot mass in the pan. We've been overloading on rhubarb crumble, tart, torte, cake, fool, and custard recently but not yet at the stage we're tired of the stuff.
The outing for the day was over to Balmaha on the east side of Loch Lomond, a small village with a boatyard, good pub, National Park visitor centre and huge car park. We had a lovely walk through the woodland on the lower slopes of Conic Hill and did lots of exploring. The weather had changed from the early morning and was a mix of showers and weak sunshine so the midgies were out, although not toooo bad. Lots of bluebells to see still and lots of 'nature walk' interest for the children.
I love seeing the new growth on pine trees like this, the contrasting greens make a good sight.

a few days of good weather is forecast for these parts - that would be so nice! so, after a week of skies this colour....we're looking forward to a (short) spell of evenings like this...

just a wee note to say that Fintry Development Trust is holding its FRESh event this weekend which is well worth a visit if you're in the area

A different sort of egg-watch

Generally the British are fairly weather fixated - usually, as people say, because we get so much of it. Chez nous we've always been obsessed, partly because we work in the wind industry, partly because we use the sun to heat and power this house and least importantly 'cos I've always fancied being a meterologist. Anyway right here right now its only 4degC, sleeting and with winds over 40mph....and its May for goodness sake! The piccies are of the oystercatcher which has laid 3 eggs on the stones just outside the preschool nursery in the village. Its causing a bit of mayhem as the eggs are just next to the front door so people are having to use an alternative entrance. Its a great learning experience for the children who report on progress and get a chance to see 'nature in action'. Even amongst the slate the eggs are nicely camouflaged. I believe the eggs will hatch in about 3 more weeks so shall post any progress.

It has rained since Sunday.

A bit of an update although I haven't taken any new photos recently. I'm sure the many many rainy days we've just had have limited such creativity. Actually we had sunshine at 5am this morning, a glorious start to the day, it held such promise!

Inspiration and 'eggsaperation'

We've had a great Easter holiday trip to Cornwall and return home with lots of inspiration from the Eden Project and the Lost Gardens of Heligan as well as having well-earned time out and larks as a family. As the weather warms up we can get on with some garden creation of our own....always remembering how long it actually takes to create these things. Our growing season is quite a few weeks behind the SW of England so the only thing I've put in the ground so far are fruit bushes. The main thing for us this year is to create the framework of our gardens, particularly the fruit and veg areas but also the entrance which still looks like a derelict farm and the little jungle which currently sits between the house and the office. In that area of overgrown shrubbery lurks a vast ground elder mess. The area is surrounded by buildings or hard landscaping so I'm hoping we can contain it and maybe even eradicate it (over a few years!). With lighter evenings and better weather we're in that optimistic phase of Spring gardening. And we've had our first flurry of rhubarb crumble making from the patch. wonderful Victorian rhubarb forcing pots at Heligan

Fabrics and finishes

Voyage Chantal in Mulberry was chosen for the only curtains in the house........

Signs of Spring

We're not the world's greatest twitchers but there has been so much bird activity this week its easy to get excited about the onset of Spring. Early in the week and early one morning we were just heading out when we happened to see a sparrowhawk nab a blackbird for its brekky, the sparrowhawk was totally unphased by our presence nearby but eventually flew off with its prey. The geese are still around in great numbers and we have a lot of pink foots as well as greylags and some canada geese. Their wingbeat when taking off or landing is quite something, its an amazing and powerful sound. The other great sound I've heard and love is that of the curlew, I think its the male's mating call which so distinctive but it really is building in volume and is definitely a sound I associate with Spring. I'm not sure what the collective word for curlews is but i reckon a 'cacophony of curlews' is a good group name. We've also seen oystercatchers this week. On some days it really does seem like Spring, on others it seems like we're full on in the middle of winter and we've had snow, hail, sleat, storms, ice and anything else you could mention. Great scenery though!

Spring Lambs & Other Creatures

The first phase of 5 raised beds took a bigger step forward this weekend with the final joinery and positions completed. Then followed the task of filling then wheeling lots (around 20 me thinks to fill the smallest bed) of barrows of well matured horse muck up the slope - Steve kept using the phrase 'the green gym' to keep me/us going! We popped a couple of hens into the first bed who worked diligently to create a finer till, the rest of the hens soon joined them in a frenzy to grab a few worms from the thousands wriggling in the muck. Later this week I'll be planting 3 blackcurrant bushes (Ben Lomond variety), 3 redcurrants (Jonkheer van Tets), 3 red gooseberrys (Red Dessert) and 3 green goosegogs ( Careless) in that particular bed. We'll also be putting a rabbit/hen proof wire around the perimeter to protect the crops. Next weekend will see a few more wheel barrows of muck shifting to fill the next beds

Eureka - the snow arrived

We finally got some snow this week and although it has melted a little after a couple of days there is still enough to play in.

Wooly Guests

We're providing a temporary home to a neighbour's Texel ewes to escape the worst of the winter before/while lambing; its very exciting having them here - the children are expecting lambs to appear daily, all being well the first should arrive in a few weeks. The texel breed is well regarded and originates from Texel island off the north coast of the Netherlands. They have very strong features and quite large faces, they look tough. Its great having them here - all the fun of watching them with none of the responsibility of looking after them!

Raised Beds Under Construction

A mixed bag of weather this weekend but we have made progress on the veggie garden. On Friday (in sunshine) the ground was levelled and cleared of its rubble and general debris and then on Saturday the general preparation of the timbers for the edge of the beds was done. We are using the joists from the demolished house to create the frames; most of these are 5.5-6metres in length which works a treat for the space we have available for the raised beds. The joists themselves are 10inches in depth which is fine for the beds and once they were de-nailed have been placed approximately in position while we 'fine tune' the layout. The first phase should create 5 rectangular beds of approx 1.5m by 5.5m.
We've got lots of well rotted horse muck to fill the beds with - a job for another weekend!